This was supposed to be a post about a worthy but unheralded item hidden on the lunch menu of an under-the-radar spot. Didn't work out that way, and I'm wondering if my disappointment is an indicator of problems to come, and not just at the foot of the Chief Sealth statue.
Tilikum Place is Ba Cuthbert's five-year-old café on the northern fringe of Belltown, a beacon of serious cuisine wedged between the anything-goes anarchy of Dave Meinert's 5-Spot and Belle Coelho's Bambino pizzeria. It's less than two blocks from my door, and I eat here frequently.
So it pains me to describe, in far too much detail, a dish that appeared on the table this week: a braised lamb sandwich, with "salsa verde, Mediterranean spices, grilled Columbia baguette, and house made potato chips." The very best part were the chips, properly crunchy and flavorful. The bread was fine. The mirepoix--diced onions, carrots and celery--had been executed with astonishing precision, as if the garde-manger were in the running for Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
But, gee, briaising the lamb with Mediterranean spices requires actual spices, which, ahem, include, salt, the most fundamental spice of all. None of these could be found on the plate, which featured beautifully tender, virtually tasteless lamb, and the salsa verde did nothing but muddy the waters, as it were. (Was it Coco Chanel whose last bit of advice to the perfectly-dressed woman was to take one thing off before leaving the house?)
More to the point: are Seattle chefs waging a war on salt? Let me be clear that the purpose of this post is not to berate Tilikum Café for a bland, $13 sandwich. It's to ask whether the blandness is deliberate. More about the question of salt, fat and sugar next week.
Tilikum Place Café, 407 Cedar St., Seattle, 206-282-4830 
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